It depends on where you live in Australia! Up where I live there is no shortage of water, every year the wet drops so much rain, the landscape turns into lakes and flood planes. Then when the wet stops the earth turns into a giant sponge and it all slowly runs off and disappears.

@PretentiousArtist Well I was cleaning the bathtub/floor/toilet/everything else with Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom stuff, and I needed to constantly rinse the sponge. It was just easier to let it run a bit, and rinse every minute then to keep turning it on and off.

I don’t see why everybody is obsessing over all this. Sure, it’s a good idea to try, but why is such a big deal when you mess up? I’ve heard all the arguments. I know why you guys are saying all that. But I just don’t get it. Does anybody agree with me? Or am I totally stupid?

I constantly yell at my SO for doing this. I leave for work before him and came home one day to find out that he never turned off the bathroom faucet, and it had run all day long. To top it off, he did it during the summer when we had water restrictions in force. GRR! :(

I don’t run water unless I’m using it. What I really dislike is that my husband lets the water “warm up” even though we actually have very hot water instantly, he lets it run while he uses the toilet..which can take quite a while. The water bill is increasing and he doesn’t seem to put two and two together. He is the biggest water waster culprit in this household. lol

I’m guilty of this. Partly because it’s easier to leave it running but mostly because I freak out if even a tiny piece of hair, food, or dirt touches my hands and I need to rinse it off asap. I don’t intend on changing my ways anytime soon.

Watering the lawn, cleaning the car, taking a bath instead of showering, buying bottled water. There are many things we don’t have to do involving water. I guess it’s the having a tap running for no purpose, that makes no sense.

I try not to do that. But if it would have any greater effect on the environment, depends on where you live.

It must be so cool to have your own life in such good shape that you can worry about how other people clean house, Here’s an idea. why not take your spare time and become a volunteer bathroom cleaning teacher and bring your message to the masses, one toilet at a time…sheesh

@Darwin That’s not necessarily true. I pay my own water bill and it’s never been overly high. My water running habits really don’t have a significant effect on the bill. I don’t think I do it enough for it to have any impact.

@ItalianPrincess1217 – You might be surprised how low you can get your water bill if you set your mind to it. When it was just me and I was in full conservation mode my water bill and electric bill were both the minimum amount that could be billed, $10 and $12 per month respectively. I kept one light on at a time and was careful with water,

Now that I have two teenagers, a husband, a larger house and a garden my water bill can vary from $60 a month to $120, depending on whether the kids are home or not, and my electric bill is more like $300 (I now use central air conditioning, which I didn’t before, and my kids are always leaving lights on, watching TV, using the computer, etc.).

@galileogirl “It must be so cool to have your own life in such good shape that you can worry about how other people clean house,”

What is wrong with someone concerned about others conserving (or not conserving) water? I seem to recall you were a bit concerned about others shopping at Wal-Mart for all the right wrong reasons. We fight for what we believe in.

@Darwin My bill is ok for now but come summer I expect it will shoot up due to our large garden. We have only been in our new house for a few months so I’m not sure how big the bill will be when we’re watering the garden twice a day! Yikes!

@jonsblond Didn’t you think it’s cool having such a problrm free life-I was just saying…

Actually rather than kvetch about water, we might be concerned about the chemicals in cleansers. Chemicals and Walmart are about even in the destruction competition.

@Kraigmo Exactly how do you know how much water your friends and family use while cleaning. When I am visiting and my hostess pulls out the cleaning supplies, I take the hint and leave but maybe I should pick up the toilet brush and keep the party going..

@galileogirl , i never even knew that people selfishly ran their faucets for no reason while cleaning… until at my job I noticed that a particular woman, when its her turn to clean for the week (we all take turns)... leaves the faucet running during her entire time cleaning the kitchen (20 minutes). All because she’s too lazy and self centered to turn the faucets on and off. Because she doesn’t see the harm caused by her, she selfishly assumes there is no harm. I then realized that if she behaves this way, there must be thousands of others doing this… leading to millions of gallons of wasted clean water each year. And this is California… a desert. We get water from wells and imported from the North. To waste water here is not a sign of a person keeping to herself… it’s a sign of a person who really doesn’t care about anything important outside of her own family.

And thanks for counteracting actual words I said, rather than inventing your own, this time.

And being concerned about water in advance of a major crisis, is far more intelligent than pretending you’re just minding your own business, waiting until the water literally runs dry and rationing occurs, like they do in Mexico. To be concerned and caring about it now… will prevent or delay that from happening later.

And i’m not proposing you cut your water in a way that cramps your lifestyle. I’m not telling you to take 5 minute showers, or to forego lawn plants. I’m pointing out the POINTLESS waste of water. And to get offended at that, or to reject that, means your ego is more important than anything else, because instead of looking at the facts, all you see is a guy who you feel is trying or wishing to control you an aspect of your life. That’s very insecure.

So you don’t know this to be a widespread problem that “people” do. It is about a person who does it one week (out of 4, 5, 6?). So here’s what you do. Put on your grown up pants and approach her, “Mary, I’m sure you aren’t aware of this but leaving the water running while you are cleaning wastes X gals (or litres) a year.” (hand her a local article on the subject). She will either stop or not. If not, bring it uo at the next staff meeting as a money saving matter.

That’s what you should do. What you did do was post a very loaded question on a site where the only response you would expect to get is people castigating this “people”/person. I am not ready to call this woman selfish or thoughtless just to make you feel superior to your fellow employee, She may have learned to clean this way. probably may not be as sensitive to your concerns. That doesn’t make her a bad person. Talking about her on the internet instead of addressing the issue in a polite way doesn’t make you a good person. Cool your jets, bring down your bp and improve the environment in your workplace.

@Kraigmo You are calling the woman lazy and self centered soley based on the fact that she likes to leave water running? Really? Have you ever spoke to her about your issue with it? Maybe she is unaware of how much it bothers you or how it effects the environment, etc. I personally never considered it until this thread. Earlier I stated that I didn’t intend on changing my ways anytime soon but today while I was scrubbing my bathroom I actually filled up a bucket of water instead of constantly running the water. And to fix the problem I have with coming into contact with hair or dirt and being able to immediately rinse it off my hands, I wore rubber gloves. Problem solved. So I’m proof. People can change. Before name calling, why not have a talk with her about it?

Maybe the media should run an awareness campaign. Maybe Greenpeace will sponsor it. And in the future every first grader in the world should have 1 hour per week at least called ‘Environment 101’ covering behavior of everything from recycling to electricity to water. They might be able to teach some of their parents.

@Darwin While I am not without sin entirely, I can assure you I don’t have wasting water on my conscience. I also have a landlord who watches his bills like a hawk. I think the intensity develops when someone posts a dishonest question. It was obvious that @Kraigmo wasn’t addressing a large problem that she felt needed to be addressed. Since s/he couldn’t possibly know what the statistics were and she used negative descriptions, it had to be personal-and it was about a coworker that Kraigmo has a problem about.

I don’t know why personal problems are posted as if they are universal except for validation. The poster must feel the need to get answers about how right s/he is and how bad the subject is. Whatever the reason, people get vested in the situation and when someone question’s the veracity behind the posting, they get mad at the person who put doubt in their minds. Nobody wants to feel foolish. Of course there is no logic in attacking the motives of the individual who raised the doubt, maybe they just prefer honesty.

@galileogirl You are assuming (twice now) my question is some passive-aggressive way of dealing with a coworker, as if it’s personal. Why are so many things personal to you? Are you suspicious that everyone who says something you disagree with has some sort of personal agenda? And that was after an assumption you made that my question had to do with friends or family that you thought maybe I observed.

If the coworker was the only person in the world who did this, then it wouldn’t matter anyway. This has nothing to do with her, except for the fact observing her made me realize that thousands of people probably waste water for no real tangible benefit to their lives.

I realized it’s a larger issue soon as I saw the activity, and it barely has anything to do with the person. One single person wasting water means nothing.

The real issue is thousands of people who don’t care about this sort of thing.

And an even larger issue is perhaps that EVERY action in a person’s life should have thought behind it, no matter how small or large that action is. Every road maneuver, every product bought, and every physical action there is. There shouldn’t be a thoughtless moment in our day, except when sitting still.

You think my question is dishonest because you think I’m lashing out at a single person who engaged in a behavior. And if that were true, then you’d have a point on that. But there’s no truth to that at all. That line of thinking is a convenient way to deny the real issue.

My questions have nothing to do with personal tit-for-tats, and nothing to do with passive ways of dealing with individuals who I know.

I personally wouldn’t even bother answering a dishonest question. Next time you see a question of mine you think is dishonest, I suggest you don’t even bother to answer it, and move on to something else. remember that’s a suggestion, not an order Because when you you think in such terms, the only answer you’ll end up giving will be stuff that addresses everything but the real issue at hand.

And if my question itself is a waste to begin with, it certainly doesn’t need to drag you and your beautiful presence down with it.

@PretentiousArtist There just might be, Jim-Bob! These days unaware decent people put their skin in danger, as they apply multiple sorts of detergent on their skin. What is moving behind the curtains in the White House are the shady agendas of the soap-industrial complex of America. They have effectively covered up that using different soaps, might combine chemicals that are lethal.

Innocent people have been known to explode.

I am just concerned about her welfare.

@rangerr Did you lather? Use a skin lotion after? Where did you apply it? Do you have soft lighting in the shower?

@rangerr Foof! That’s a relief. I am glad to hear that you are aware, and take steps to ensure your safety, as well as that of your skin. Remember, we don’t inherit it from our parents, we borrow it from our children. We don’t want to play into the hands of the corporate devils!

I’d snuggle ours, but they only come in the house when it is really storming or if it’s snowing. The barn has heat, dog beds and air conditioning for them. They get lots of attention and cuddle time, just not when we are nice and clean, unless we let them in and give them a bath.

@rangerr So.. is this a good time to ask you out? Or maybe my father should contact your father, and make the arrangements? How big is the dowry and will I have to work with farming? I do love my loafers.

@oratio You’ll need to wear knee-high boots, as we have a lot of mud. You’ll have to do the farm work so I can relax and the heavy lifting is pretty tedious. Keep in mind all 63 horses need to be stretched every 3 days, and I’m getting tired of doing that by myself.

Knee high rainboots. RUBBER. They can’t be sexy by anyone.
By stretching them, I mean riding them. By riding them, I mean posting trot. Google it. Not fun for males.I’ve had a healthy dose of vodka tonight